Behind the Wheel
by Karianasan
Summary: How Velma learned to Drive.
1. Two Teachers

Ever had something you needed help with, and asked for it… But got more then you bargained for?

Well, Velma was having that kind of problem right now. She just had to ask both Fred AND Shaggy to help her, didn't she? One wasn't enough, but she had asked both of them, because they were the one's who knew the most about it. That was her downfall.

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"Now… Like' ease her into a stop here." The beatnik commented, pointing in front of her. It was just to the end of the street, where the stop sign was. Her eyes fixed on the spot and she started to respond when Fred added to the instructions.

"All right, press lightly upon the break and gradually put enough force to come to a full stop."

He was being more technical, which was normally fine, but trying to focus on where she was supposed to stop and how to actually stop was a bit to juggle for a person new to this all. Her mind struggled to repeat his instructions while keeping her eyes on the spot Shaggy had said. Easier said then done, but she managed to keep her wits about her to pull it off and not lurch them forward in the stop. A moments reprieve from instructions as she stopped at the sign, though it did not last for long.

"Now, since you are at a full stop here," Fred continued to add his words of wisdom to the nervous student. "Make sure to look both ways." A good point which she tried to file in her mind as she took the desired action as instructed.

"And don't forget check all mirrors!" Piped up Shaggy from behind. Another good point, but adding it to her list was straining her thoughts to make sure to do everything and remember to do all these actions when she was to drive in the future.

"Once the coast is clear…" Fred added.

"Watch out for cars coming…" Shaggy compiled another good tip on top of Fred's.

"Easy on the break, release and…" Fred gave more instructions to the almost overloaded Velma.  
…  
…  
…

"ENOUGH!" 

Yelled Velma. She threw her hands into the air and landed face first into the steering wheel of the Mystery Machine. A long beep came from the vehicle as her face hit the button in the middle. She hung her arms over the steering wheel and spoke into the horn, not bringing herself up from the odd, fed up position.

"This… isn't going to work."

Not used to her yelling at them, both Shaggy and Fred quieted and watched their younger friend with caution. She sighed and pulled back to an upright sitting position, the seatbelt was cutting into her anyway to stay to long flopped against the wheel. Running a hand through her hair, she took a deep breath in and out to calm herself down. Getting enough courage, she looked both ways and then made the turn they wanted her to make before. Being a lot easier as they had quieted down enough for her to focus on what she had to do. She pulled over the Mystery Machine and parked it on the side of the street out of the way of the traffic, if any came. Putting the vehicle to park, she started to unbuckle her seatbelt when Fred stopped her.

"What are you doing?" He tentatively asked. She removed the belt and pushed it back to where it normally hung.

"I want to go home. I'm not in a condition to drive with TWO instructors. I will try this again, but I need to get my head straight. And this method isn't going to work." She admitted. Her brilliant plan was more then she had bargained for, not knowing what to expect from trying to learn to drive and now knowing too much at once. "…sorry."

Nodding in understanding, Fred slid out of the van and made the walk around to the driver side as Velma took up the spot where Fred had been in the passenger seat. Shaggy placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder as she buckled herself in. Easing the Mystery Machine out, Fred drove them all home.


	2. The Basics

It was a while before Velma had gotten enough courage to try to drive again. Not wanting to make the same mistake, she had to decide on who she wanted to teach her. Since asking them both wasn't a good idea. It was a tag team of the bad kind. And having to pay attention to more then she could handle was not the way to learn.

First things first though, she wanted to get used to the van. It was a tad bit intimidating being so high up when she was used to being short and close to the ground. Edging herself to the van, she had never been scared of it before. She knew the van, inside and out. She even had fixed it many a time, but sitting in the driver's seat was a whole knew experience. A totally new perspective to be looking through compared to being a passenger. And a lot more work then just sitting along for the ride.

Moving to the tall door, she looked up at the van. Never before had it seemed so tall to her. It rode very high and it took a bit of climbing to get to the driver seat. The seat itself felt different, since it was made for both comfort and usefulness for the driver.

Her hands shook a bit before she placed them upon the rim of the steering wheel. It felt so big, belonging to a large van and not a simple small car. She felt dwarfed in the vehicle, even smaller then standing next to it. Thankfully, she was tall enough to not struggle to look over the steering wheel, or have a hard time to touch the pedals. That she felt would have been embarrassing, even for her.

She jumped as the passenger door opened and she found Shaggy peering in to see who had opened the other door, the sound of it had drew him to investigate. Velma felt like a little kid with her hand in the cookie jar. Caught in the act… of sitting in the driver seat. A silly thing to feel embarrassed about being found in, but it felt for some reasons like she shouldn't be sitting in there without their permission.

"You want to try again?" He asked cautiously. Since the last time, he had been waiting till she had felt back to normal enough to try again. She looked at Shaggy and then over at the wheel. It still was a bit scary but if she could face down monsters on a regular basis, she could handle driving.

"…Yes. I think I'm ready to try again." Velma said a bit slowly and carefully, making sure she was actually going to go through with her words. She wasn't going to give up; it wasn't like her to give up on something even if it was scary. Nodding her head a bit more forcefully, she looked back to Shaggy with a determined look on her face. "Yeah. I'm ready to learn." She replied with more confidence.

Shaggy grinned, since Velma acted more like herself looking determined then all timid and scared at something. She never was one to back down against something, even when she was younger, so this suited her better. He made motions for Velma to come over.

"Let me take us somewhere where you don't have to be worried about other cars before we set you on the road. A little easier if you don't have to worry about other stupid drivers when you are learning."

It was a good suggestion of his, so Velma was more then happy to prolong her driving the van… though it did little to settle her stomach. Walking around, he got in with one swift and practiced move, sliding the seatbelt on as he turned the van on. The motion seemed so second nature for Shaggy, though it felt so foreign for her. It whirred to life, making Velma feel uneasy about having all that horsepower under her control in a bit; even if there wasn't going to be people or cars to be in the danger zone of her driving.

The trip was short, making sure her nervousness didn't have enough time to build up. Pulling into an empty court parking lot, it gave plenty of room for her to drive around. The other cars there were so few and far between she would have to go out of her way to head towards at one to hit it. Turning the van fully off Shaggy looked over and dangled the keys at her, looking concerned a bit hoping she was ready this time. 

Though they were nothing to fear, Velma stared at the keys for a long time. An audible gulp came from the bi-spectacle girl as her hand shook a tiny bit as she reached out to the grasp the keys in her own hand. The key felt surprisingly cold in her small hands, as Shaggy released the top of the keychain and left her with all the control. Opening the door, he slid out of the vehicle and left the driver's seat empty for her to slide over and get into. She stared at the empty spot for a second, before she forced herself to move over into it. The seat had gotten a bit warm with Shaggy having just left it; the warmth was a bit of a comfort more then a distraction. It gave her the feeling that she wasn't alone even though Shaggy had settled right beside her into the passenger seat. Leaning back against the chair she gathered up her mind and blew out a long breath.

"Ok. Seat belts." She put hers on and double checked that Shaggy had his on. He flicked the band across his chest and shot her thumbs up. She nodded and continued on her checklist before even moving.

"Mirrors…"

Adjusting each to her preference, she was now able to see as much as she was supposed to. There were a few blind spots, but that is why she needed to turn her head like everyone else had too. She felt a bit bad about adjusting the mirrors that the guys would have to fix later, but if she was going to drive then she had to be able to see. So it was a necessary evil.

"With foot on the brake, Start the vehicle….."

Turning the keys, the Mystery Machine roared to life. The beast underneath her butt was ready and raring to go even if she wasn't.

"Wait wait…" Shaggy said, shifting in the seat seeming to be fumbling for something. Velma looked over, shutting off the car and peered confusedly at Shaggy as he pulled what looked like a pamphlet out from his back pocket. He thumbed through the short packet till he seemed to find what he was looking at. With the thing open, Velma was able to read the front of the Manual. "_Learning to Drive: A Guide for Parents._" He looked over in time to see her making a face at the front cover. 

"Hey, it has some very good information." He short her snort as he moved back to re-read the passage he had just read so he could retell her information. She wasn't sure if she would be impressed at his forethought, or feel slightly embaressed that he was teaching out of a parent guide. But in her experience, sometimes it was better to have reading material on things… And why didn't she think about it?

"Blah blah blah… _Don't assume anything. First attempts at controlling the car should be made in an area where the learner can concentrate on the response of the machine to the controls without having to worry about traffic or obstacles. A large deserted parking lot is ideal_. Check, got the large empty lot and not a moving car in sight." He shot her another thumbs up before going back to the pamphlet.

"_Emphasize the coordination of hands and feet in these parking lot sessions. The beginner driver tends to forget the hands while using the feet and the feet while using the hands. This can lead to serious problems on the street. For example, the driver may freeze on the gas pedal while struggling to steer around a turn. Alright, like the book says. _Let's try just getting used to driving. Just follow the parking lot to the end there." Shaggy pointed in the direction she needed to go. "Then when you reach the end, we'll make a left turn and do a lap or two around the whole lot to get you used to it. Ok?"

It made sense, first get used to the car before even remotely going on a street where things get hectic. She had to admire Shaggy's readiness for the situation. She also wondered how long had he been carrying around that pamphlet in his back pocket. Well, at least Shaggy was easier to deal with relaxed wise then Fred. Though Fred has his moments, this might have been a better choice for a teacher, and it seemed he had done his homework. Taking a deep breath, she turned on the car again. Before she moved though, she fiddled a bit with the gear shift so she got used to the controls.

"Oh, and this little lever thingy is what does the signals. Just push it up for right turn, and down for left. Now this isn't as important here, but it's good to get into a good habit of signaling. So I won't comment every time you forget, but try to get used to signaling when ever you are doing a movement worth letting other drivers know about."

"Ah, that is what that was. Okay." 

There were a lot of levers, buttons and switches she was going to have to get used to. The car had lights, heat, AC, gear shift, radio, windshield wipers and other things, but she'll take one thing at a time. Playing with the signal once, she made sure they worked before shifting into drive. Slowly releasing the break, the car moved slowly forward. Pushing down the gas, not much happened. So she pushed a bit harder and the car lurched forward.

"Eeps!"

She shot her foot down and the car lurched to a stop. Shaggy grunted as he came against the belt, but then that was what it was there for. He put up a hand to try to calm the fretting Velma.

"It's ok. It's ok. The gas pedal is something you'll have to get used to. Try first lightening off the breaks and easing the gas down slowly. We don't have to worry about keeping a speed limit in here, so just try it and get used to making the van move. Though don't try to go to fast, a nice fifteen to twenty is good for now. Don't try to go much faster then that until you feel more comfortable."

She felt flush in the face with embarrassment. She did better driving before on her first try, but it still caught her off guard. She was thankful that Shaggy had better reaction then she did, and he didn't freak out. Because the last thing she needed was to be scaring her teacher. Trying to calm herself down, she did a few minor trigonometry equations before feeling ready to try again. With a confident nod from Shaggy, she tried it again. It was a bit jerky as she put on the break when ever she seemed to be going to fast, but slowly she got used to it. Making sure to remind herself of the signal, she managed to get around the whole lot a few times before Shaggy told her to come to a stop for more directions.

"Alright, now you see the middle lanes that all the parking spaces have? We will pretend those are roads. Now we'll work on stopping. Each time there is a gap like over there." He pointed out where there was like an intersection for the cars to move from one row of parking spots to the other. "We'll pretend there is a stop sign there. When you are going to get to a stop sign, or a red light, you need to start applying the break long before you actually get to the spot where you have to stop. Otherwise if you stop too suddenly, it might put a strain on you and your passengers. And it's also not so good on your breaks to stop to sharply unless you have to in an emergency."

Nodding, recording all the data he was giving her, she moved on to the next set of things. Though she was a bit jerky at the beginning, she got better with Shaggy's confident smiles and occasional informative tips from himself and the pamphlet. And soon she had mastered the parking lot. Feeling confident in her signals, stops, turns and monitoring the speed limit. Clapping, shaggy complimented her on a good day of practice.

"Alright, that is good for now. Let's head home for the day, I'm getting hungry!"


	3. Final Test

Shaggy took Velma a few times to the empty court parking lots on the weekends when no one was really using it. He also gave her the website that had a PDF version of the pamphlet that he was using that gave very good hits and tips for her. It pointed out things that were very useful, like the stress of a no stress environment to learn in. Which she learned the first time with trying to have both of them teach her at the same time. Same thing for overloading, having to pay attention to both of them was a lot to handle when she was also trying to drive the car. Being positive she had also learned made it a lot easier to take in what Shaggy had taught her. His laid back attitude made it feel more relaxing even though he was giving instructions.

It seemed by the books standards, Shaggy had chosen wisely to try the empty lot, and she had to admit the van was much less of a fear creating machine rather then now a mode of fast transportation that required concentration, but not all that much stress relatively. It still was new to her, but with several practices, it didn't seem all that foreign to her as it had been. She had gotten into good habits and it was getting a lot easier once she was used to how the Mystery Machine handled. How touchy the breaks and gas were, that the van tended to lean more to the left, and it's overall tall height which actually made it easier to see further then other cars, but harder to see around the sides of them. So it had it's downsides as well as positive attributes.

Once she took to driving the streets, she started slow with a few of the backstreets they knew weren't too active during the day. It was not too bad, except for one run away basketball from one of the kids playing. But with good breaks and better instruction she had received it was nothing more then a sudden but easy to handle event.

'Watch how close you play to the street.' Was the warning given to the kids, although their greatest concern was more that the large van had not run over and popped their ball. Oh well, kids these days.

Lessons when well for Velma, and after a few months of practice, Shaggy felt she was ready to take the test. She didn't feel as comfortable as he was, she was going to give it her best. With the whole gang in tow, The written exam was easy for her. For any written test was not much of a challenge for the brainy member of the gang. But the butterflies were present as she took the physical driving test.

The instructor was a nice guy, who seemed more relaxed then she was. He laid out the rough idea of what was in store for her, and then once that was over he waited till she was ready and watched as she pulled out of the DMV parking lot. He made light conversation which helped to make the drive easier on Velma since she was enjoying talking with him rather then focusing on the stress that it was a test she wanted to pass. Though the conversation was going on, she was following the subtle instructions he was giving her as they talked. And before she even knew it, the test was over.

She needed to work on her turns a bit more, but she got a passing grade. And the whole gang was there as she got her brand new, shiny ID. Though they took away her glasses when she was taking her picture, it still kinda looked like her… If you squinted and ignored the fact that she looked drugged in the picture. But then again, a drivers license picture was never a good shot, one would think it's a rule that no person could look good even Daphne's looked silly. So Velma didn't mind, she at least had it.

"Would you like to drive?" Fred offered, bowing and holding out his arms to the car. Velma laughed and declined. Thankful that she was not going to need to use this too often, but rather that she had it was good enough.

Daphne and Shaggy seemed to be holding back snickers for a while now, ever since she had gotten back from her test. And it was getting to the point where she was frustrated and wasn't enjoying them laughing at her.

"What's so funny?" She grumbled at them, taking offence and glaring. Daphne waved her hand dismissively.

"No… no… Not you. It was your driving tester. snicker… When you guys passed by, he made a face and motion like he was scared and he wanted out of the car. Hee… Hee…" Daphne giggled.

"Yeah, snort and then he made that... cross you know? The one where you touch your forehead, chest, then both shoulders and made a sign like he was praying." Shaggy snickered as well, for the tester turned out to be more of a character then she had seen. Mostly since she was paying attention to the road like she was supposed to, rather then the silly actions of the guy in the passenger seat.

"Sigh…"

"Oh come on Velms, it was funny." Sure sure, it was funny to a person watching, but it made her feel like her driving was bad enough he had to pray for their safety. At least she passed…

"Hmph."

"Relax, he was just joking man. How about let's all go for something to eat in celebration, Velma's like' pick?" Shaggy suggested. And even offered for the choice to be Velma's, since she had passed and that calls for a celebration.

"Alright… Sounds good! Let's go Gang!"


End file.
